Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Jets' new kickoff returner, Josh Cribbs, hopes opponents decide to 'see if I can still do it'

Newest Jet Josh Cribbs, 'I am going to help electrify this team and be that it factor'The newest New York Jet Josh Cribbs, a wide receiver/kick returner spoke about giving his all and that he still has his speed, 'I'm going to get the job done'. He also added that 'I am going to try and be a 2nd Geno in there to help electrify this team and be that it factor' as he is all amped up to be playing for the Jets. He stated that he is '111 percent'. (Video by William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

One of the most prolific kick returners in NFL history ran around the high school soccer field near his suburban Cleveland home as his friend chased him.

Out of the NFL since Oakland cut him just before this season began, Josh Cribbs was simply trying to stay sharp and strengthen his left knee, which underwent surgery for a torn meniscus after last season.

Then he got kicked off the soccer field because he was tearing up the grass by sprinting on it. So he moved his workouts to a different field — a humbling experience for a man who ranks fifth in NFL history and first among active players with 10,015 kickoff return yards, and is tied for the all-time lead with eight kickoff returns for touchdowns.

At first, Cribbs relished the opportunity to share time with his wife and two children. Since entering the league as an undrafted player with the Browns in 2005, he spent hours away from them every fall, pouring his life into football.

The Browns cut him after last season, and the Raiders’ situation never worked out, because his knee wasn’t 100 percent, Cribbs said. He found himself at home on Sundays, watching NFL games and thinking, "I need to be out there."

"After seeing football, I felt just too regular and average," he said.

Cribbs, who signed with the Jets on Tuesday, remains confident he can still be more than an average return man, even at age 30 and coming off knee surgery.

With Clyde Gates and Mike Goodson done for the season because of injuries, Cribbs will return kickoffs for the Jets. With Santonio Holmes perhaps again sidelined for Sunday’s game against New England due to a hamstring injury, Cribbs might find a role in the offense, as well.

Coach Rex Ryan said he is "not sure" about where Cribbs might fit in offensively, but believes he can add punch to the Jets’ return game. The Jets rank 27th in the NFL with 20.3 yards per kickoff return — a play that the league de-emphasized by moving kickoffs from the 30-yard line to the 35. Cribbs, naturally, disagrees with this change, because he said it results in the NFL "turning more and more into intramurals."

"I think with that name on the back (of his jersey), he stands back there, you’re going to be a little nervous," Ryan said. "Because we’ve all been scorched by him in the past."

Cribbs said his knee has felt fully healed since the regular season began. He said the Jets, who expressed some interest in him during his free agency, worked him out Oct. 1. He lobbied general manager John Idzik to sign him for last Sunday’s game against the Steelers, because he has three kickoff returns for touchdowns against them — more than he has against any team.

"I kill Pittsburgh," Cribbs recalled telling Idzik.

Age and injury, which Cribbs played through while not missing a game in 2012, haven’t curbed his self-assuredness — a valuable trait for a return man. He had 1,178 kick return yards last season for the Browns on 43 attempts, with a long of 74 yards.

"This is like a rebirth for me," Cribbs said Wednesday after his first practice as a Jet. "Because as a rookie, I came in undrafted and had to prove to everybody in the NFL that I could play. I have to do that now again, just to show everybody: ‘Dang, he’s still got it.’ I want people to be like, ‘Oh, man, he’s still here.’ I want to hear the naysayers, because I use it for motivation.

"A lot of head coaches, they’re going to kick it away (from me) out of respect. If they say, ‘Hey, he don’t got it no more,’ I’ve got to show them. Kick it regular. See if I can still do it. I’m up for the challenge. I’ve got a lot to prove. Everybody knows what I can do. The coaches know what I can do, and it’s up to me to prove it."

The Jets’ regular punt returner has been receiver Jeremy Kerley, but Cribbs said he also got some work there Tuesday, as well as practice snaps at the inside and outside receiver spots.

Because the Jets worked out Cribbs during free agency in the spring, he always considered them a potential landing spot. He studied their special teams intently as he watched their games at home, visualizing himself fielding kickoffs and thinking about how he would hit the holes, as he awaited his chance to return to a more prominent field.